University-Based Economic Development (UBED) has been a top priority for Virginia, and yesterday VEDP executed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Virginia’s public institutions of higher education and the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV).

Through increased partnership in marketing and outreach, the goals of the MOU are to unify Virginia’s message in the global marketplace and provide a higher number of corporate contacts for VEDP and increased opportunities for Virginia’s institutions of higher education to interact with corporate entities.

The MOU creates a formal framework around an already existing relationship between VEDP and Virginia’s colleges and universities. Virginia’s UBED team has been in existence for seven years and has fostered collaboration on numerous workforce development and research projects.

According to VEDP President and CEO Martin Briley, “This MOU provides a meaningful blueprint to more fully leverage higher education as a differentiator in our economic development outreach marketing, and it reinforces the message to our corporate partners that our public colleges and universities are dedicated to leveraging research and workforce assets to benefit the business community.”

Access to a solid pipeline of skilled and educated employees can be a deciding factor when companies seek to relocate or expand operations. Virginia has one of the most well-educated workforces in the country—more than 34 percent have at least a bachelor’s degree and more than 500,000 students are enrolled annually at Virginia’s top-ranked higher education institutions.

To learn more about the Commonwealth’s premier education system and why its workforce is consistently commended by companies, click here.

(From left to right) Secretary of Commerce and Trade Jim Cheng; Peter Blake, Executive Director of SCHEV; Dr. Michael Rao, President of Virginia Commonwealth University; Secretary of Education Laura Fornash; and Martin Briley, President and CEO of VEDP; participate in the MOU signing ceremony.

Continuing our series on University-Based Economic Development, we will look at how James Madison University’s (JMU) Virginia Center for Wind Energy (VCWE) keeps industry professionals educated on wind power developments in Virginia.

Located in a 4,000-square-foot commercial lab space near JMU’s main campus, the center has been active since 2001. VCWE provides measurements, economic modeling, education, energy policy analysis and GIS reports on wind energy in the Commonwealth.

VCWE recently hosted the 2012 Statewide Wind Energy Symposium, which included panel discussions and workshops ranging from Wind 101 to Regulatory and Permitting Options. The 150 attendees included government officials, wind industry decision-makers, business owners and Virginia residents.

During the symposium VCWE launched its Small Wind Training & Testing Facility, which will be used primarily for workforce training in the small wind industry. Small wind is traditionally defined as turbines below 100 kilowatts (kW) with most residential turbines under 20 kW. Through the center students will have access to three wind turbines, a WeatherBug weather station, a solar array system and additional measurement equipment.

Uncertainty still surrounds the national production tax credit, and locally, many cities do not have wind ordinances in place, making education the critical mandate for VCWE.

“The Small Wind Training and Testing Facility was designed to address a lack of available resources in the region to support the training of a small wind workforce throughout Virginia and beyond. This resource will support teaching of undergraduates at JMU and other educational institutions throughout the Commonwealth, as well as the training of residents and business owners who seek to learn more about how to apply wind energy in Virginia,” said Dr. Jonathan Miles, VCWE Director.

Fortunately Virginia has a compelling wind story with its shallow waters, strong Class 6 winds, high voltage transmission grid, and maritime workforce. To learn more JMU’s Virginia Center for Wind Energy, click here.

As promised, VEDP is delving into UBED (University-Based Economic Development) in our institutions of higher learning across the Commonwealth.

“William & Mary (W&M) is looking at how to grow what’s already in Virginia, as well as to help bring companies into the Commonwealth,” said Leonard Sledge, William & Mary’s Director of Economic Development.

To that end, W&M’s Technology and Business Center has partnered with the county to run the James City County Business & Technology Incubator (JCC-BTI). The incubator provides support and advisory services to help accelerate the growth of younger companies. This support includes help setting goals and milestones, general business advice, organizational guidance, networking events, assistance locating financing and other service providers, and the use of a professional business facility.

The incubator also liaises with W&M’s Mason School of Business and Entrepreneurship Center. Business school professors are assigned to each incubator company to help determine strategy. Business school students are also engaged in problem-solving initiatives for incubator companies through project and classroom exercises.

Launched in January 2007, the JCC-BTI has worked with 10 companies, graduating three to date. One such graduate is MODU System, a Malaysian manufacturer of conveyor belt systems. The incubator helped the company enter the U.S. market, advising management on how to position the product and locate resellers in the U.S.

Another success story is Breathe Healthy, a manufacturer of antimicrobial face masks with superior comfort and filtering abilities. JCC-BTI helped the veteran-owned company locate key markets for its product, as well as launch international sales.

According to William Bean, Director of W&M’s Technology Business Center, “We’re looking for companies that are passionate and serious about the growth of their business. Our incubator clients span a variety of industries, but the one thing they have in common is a genuine excitement to use the services of our incubator for accelerating growth.”

Virginia Tech has developed a number of University-Based Economic Development (UBED) programs as part of its long-term strategy to help connect faculty and students with companies and communities.

According to John Provo, Office of Economic Development Director, “The global network starts as soon as you walk out the door. We facilitate the sharing of Virginia Tech’s intellectual capital with the private sector to develop problem-solving solutions.”

One such group is VT-IDEA (Virginia Tech Intelligence and Defense Executive Alumni). Founded in January 2009, VT-IDEA is made up of alumni working in senior government and industry positions in the national security sector. The group’s mission is two-fold: it serves as both a resource for national security professionals to better connect, and it helps Virginia Tech get even more plugged in to the national security space.

Through its efforts to build a faster pipeline from the research in Blacksburg to the cyber security needs in D.C., VT-IDEA has recently helped introduce two new ideas to industry insiders. The first is a data safeguarding device that can wipe tablets and cell phones clean, removing confidential information once the individual has left a secured area. The second technology foils radio signal eaves-droppers. The technology senses the intrusion and reconfigures the network to make it secure.

VT-IDEA not only helps spot and commercialize winning solutions; it also puts early stage entrepreneurs in touch with financing and venture capital sources. The group will be doing just that at its upcoming meeting “VT-IDEA Presents Innovation and Entrepreneurship at VTECH” on June 21 at the VT Research Center - Arlington.

Universities play an essential role in developing the human capital so important to economic development, leading to the current term UBED (University-Based Economic Development). Over the coming weeks, VEDP will feature a series of blogs focusing on what universities are doing across the Commonwealth to play a more active role in reaching out to the business community.

According to Tom Osha, President and CEO of Old Dominion University’s (ODU) Innovation Research Park (IRP), ODU is transitioning to a more active role in economic development by developing a 24/7 live-work-play community. IRP is capitalizing on the move away from traditional research parks to an updated model — the “knowledge community.”

This new community caters to the next generation of researchers who desire a higher level of engagement in the neighborhood where they work. No longer satisfied with commuting home to the suburbs, this generation is looking to live, work and play all in the same location.

IRP provides just that through its location within ODU’s University Village. Impressive on its own, IRP currently has 350 employees working in two 100,000-square-foot buildings, with plenty of room for expansion. Add to that University Village’s 10 restaurants, retail stores, hotel, theater, art gallery and the Ted Constant arena, and one can see the attractiveness of such a hub.

The economic development impact occurs when companies are drawn to communities like this, bringing with them investment and new jobs to the area. One such company is ipConfigure, which chose to locate at IRP over a location in Texas due to ODU’s multidimensional offerings.

ODU’s Computational Intelligence and Machine Vision Lab was a significant consideration for the company, as their video surveillance technology utilizes just the sort of facial recognition algorithms developed at the lab. Easy access to a qualified employee base and close proximity to amenities also clinched the deal.

"ipConfigure hires ODU graduates and interns, utilizes the ODU Business Gateway, eats in the ODU Village, puts guests up at the hotel, buys tickets to ODU football and other sporting events, and attracts its customers to come to IRP to see the research happening at the Vision Lab and elsewhere around ODU," Osha stated.

The university also put ipConfigure in touch with the Virginia Port Authority, the first customer of the company’s new Wide Area Surveillance products.

ODU is a shining example of a Virginia university that is seeking to bring the benefits of its research outside the classroom by catering to the needs of businesses. To learn more about ODU’s interaction with the business community, click here.

Congratulations to Virginia State University’s (VSU) Reginald F. Lewis School of Business for winning three awards over the last few months.

Last week, VSU’s business school was awarded the RichTech Technology Innovation Deployment Award for its creative use of technology to enhance a process. RichTech honors organizations that help advance Virginia’s technology-based economy.

This win was a nice follow-up to the “Best Business Program in the Country” award received earlier this month from The Center for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU). The Center for HBCU ranked VSU’s business school No. 1 for its commitment to innovation.

Last September, VSU’s business school received the Governor’s Technology Award in the category of Innovation in Higher Education. The award was presented at the Commonwealth of Virginia Innovative Technology Symposium in recognition of the most creative initiatives in the public sector.

All three awards recognized the business school’s “Digital at the Core” initiative. As the first school in the country to delivery its core curriculum primarily via digital format, the school launched its pilot program in the fall of 2010. Digital textbooks, MP3 audio chapters, MP3 study guides, quizzes and flashcards were all available via download for a cost-friendly licensing fee of $19.95.

Founded in 1882, VSU is an example of Virginia’s premier higher education system that partners with industries to prepare students with the technological training and skills they will utilize upon entering the workforce.

To learn more about Virginia’s highly skilled workforce as well as customized training and recruitment programs, click here.

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About VEDP

The Virginia Economic Development Partnership (VEDP), a state authority created by the Virginia General Assembly to better serve those seeking a prime business location and increased trade opportunities, provides confidential site selection and international trade services. VEDP's mission: To enhance the quality of life and raise the standard of living for all Virginians, in collaboration with Virginia communities, through aggressive business recruitment, expansion assistance, and trade development, thereby expanding the tax base and creating higher-income employment opportunities.